Revan's Gift
by Allronix
Summary: Though Revan had to leave her friends behind, Mission and Zaalbar learn that her heart is strill very much with them.


"Revan's Gift"

by: Allronix

Fandom: SW:KOTOR (LSF Path)

Genre: V, A

Summary: Kairi (Revan) had to leave her friends behind, but Mission and Zaalbar find out her heart is still very much with them.

Using the 's challenge

Inclement weather  
A snowglobe  
More than one perspective (although not necessarily on the same subject)  
One or more mention of any holiday in the SW Enclyopedia

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Kashyyyk's storms were wild affairs, and only the sheer hardiness of the wroshyr branches protected them from the gales.

Curling up on the bench in the Chieftain's Hall, the young Twi'lek hugged her knees and shifted position so her lekku weren't pinched into the corner. The weather was about as gloomy as she felt.

_"I thought I would find you here, little sister."_

She looked up. Zaalbar had walked in the room and shut the door behind him. Mission didn't think she'd ever get used to seeing him well-groomed and bedecked with amber jewelry. Even after all this time, she had trouble picturing him as a prince. Stranger still, was when Zaalbar declared her his "honor-sister." She went from being a creature of Taris's permacrete jungles to princess of another jungle entirely.

"Huh? Oh. Guess you're wondering why I'm not at the party."

_"No, I know exactly why you aren't at the party. Life Day is only once every three years, and it was on the last Life Day that –"_

"That Kairi…Rev…damn. That SHE decided to ditch us. She didn't tell ANY of us that she was leaving. Didn't even say where –" Her voice choked and she angrily wiped away a tear from her cheek. "I mean…didn't she trust us? Weren't we there for her after she found out what she'd been? Didn't we help her in taking out the Star Forge?" She put her chin on her folded knees. "Guess she didn't care about us as much as she claimed, huh?"

_"Well, that is one possibility_," Zaalbar said, sitting on the bench. _"But maybe not the right one."_

"Sure. If she wasn't just ditching us just to ditch us, wouldn't she have at least told us – any of us – where she was going or why? _Frotz_, that was just what Griff did to me, only she left all of us – even Carth!"

Zaalbar sighed sadly. _"It…is…a horrible thing to think of her. I remember having so much trouble explaining my ways to her. I'm not even certain she understood what the life-debt meant. Perhaps I no more understand what being a Jedi is than she could comprehend the ways of my people." _

"Yeah," Mission drawled. "Take one weird-sounding explanation, add a heaping spoonful of 'will of the Force' or some such, throw in a processor, then hide half the result from us non-Jedi."

Zaalbar chuckled._ "Something like that. But try not to be so sad, Mission. This is the first Life Day in many years where all of Kashyyyk is free from slaver taint. And much of is due to Kairi-Revan's actions. She would be as sad as I to watch you grieving so. Come along. I think it is time for the bards to tell their stories, and I'm certain they would want to hear the story of how Bacca's blade was returned."_

Now Mission chuckled. "Now there's a heroic epic. I duck in some bushes and chuck grenades at the big nasty monster coming at me. After it's dead, I see the blade and thought that it was just a trinket that some Wookiee was missing. I didn't know it was a legendary relic."

_"Perspective, little sister.__ You hunted the Shadowlands with your clan, summoned the Great Beast using the proper ritual, defeated it, and pulled from its hide the very thing that ended up saving our people."_

"Zaalbar, if you don't think she ditched us, why do you think she left?"

He patted her shoulder. _"Perhaps there are greater beasts still to summon, vaster dangers to hunt. When we hunt alone, it is a time not only to test one's self, but a chance to understand one's place in the greater whole. My time of hunting alone was on Taris. Perhaps yours will be another trip into the Shadowlands. Revan's, however, is somewhere in the stars. When the hunt is over, she will come home." _

"You think so?"

Zaalbar nodded.

"Yeah, and I guess sitting here and moping won't get her home any faster," she said. Swinging into position, she hefted herself off the bench and started walking towards the door. Halfway to the door, she stopped.

"Wait a minute…"

_"__Mission__?"_

She got down on her hands and knees and crawled to a shadowy corner of the room. "This board. It's loose. And something's behind it!" Shifting it a little to get her hand inside, she felt a small package. It took some twisting and gentle pulling to get it out of its hiding space

It was a small parcel wrapped in what looked like cloth torn from a Jedi robe, bound up with twine. Mission sat cross-legged on the floor as her smaller fingers worked the knots loose. The cloth fell away.

Two gifts and a note rested in the bundle. The first was a softly-glowing green crystal, carefully cut and faceted. The other was a globe depicting the skyline of Upper Taris. Mission picked up the note and read.

_TO __MISSION__ AND ZAALBAR:_

_I'm leaving these behind in case I fail to return before the next Life Day. As I write this, I already miss you all terribly. I don't want to leave you behind, but I don't want to endanger you, either. I had too many nightmares about what could have happened…especially to you both. I had to vanish the way I did because you would follow me anywhere – even to doom should this fail. I can't let that happen. _

_The crystal is for you. It's one from the crystal caverns on Dantooine. I got it faceted to be set inside Bacca's Blade, replacing the jewel your brother took from its hilt. It is not a perfect repair, but I hope it will at least be a suitable one. Your people need a leader, Zaalbar, and helping them stay strong and free would be the greatest repayment you could ever make. _

_Mission__, I picked up the globe back when we were still on Taris. It was being sold at one of the __Upper__City__ shops. Carth was a little annoyed when I bought it with my Pazaak winnings, but now I know why I purchased it. When you get homesick for the towering metropolis, I hope gazing into it will help somewhat. Zaalbar will need a lot of help in his task, especially from someone with a pure heart. And you have the purest heart I have ever seen._

_I hope to be back soon._

_May the Force be With You,_

_Kairi_

_PS: If you see Carth, tell him I still love him deeply. I eagerly await the day when I am back in his arms and surrounded by my friends once more._

Mission inverted the globe and swirled it, then turned it back to see the gentle snow of glitter fall across the miniature cityscape.

"She…she didn't abandon us after all, Zaalbar," she said. "And she says she's gonna be back." She looked up, new tears falling, but she couldn't tell whether from sorrow or joy. "You think she'll come back?"

_"In one way or another, Mission, I know she will."_

Mission took the snow-globe and put it on the bench where she had been sitting. "And until she does, we'll do what we have to..." Mission's face lit up with a wry smile. "Even if it means telling stories and dancing."

_"Sounds like a difficult task, but we can do it."_ Zaalbar said. _"Come on, let's go before Father breaks out the Cortyg and we miss out on the village elders acting silly. It's MUCH more potent than the weak ale Taris had."_

Mission shook her head. "Only a Wookiee would find that stuff 'weak.' Come on, Big Z, 'duty' calls."

The two of them walked back into the celebration in their familiar pattern – Mission striding forward, Zaalbar a step behind.

30


End file.
